


A bad day

by kessilover



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Prompt Fill, mergana - Freeform, trapped in lift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 21:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5391359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kessilover/pseuds/kessilover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgana was having a bad day. Unfortunately, it was about to get a lot worse as she found herself trapped in a lift with a man that she had never met before. A modern Mergana AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A bad day

Sorry for the long wait, but it’s finally done.

Morgana was having a bad day. Surprisingly, it was only 11 in the morning.

It started with her waking up late. Then her car broke down and when she decided to call Arthur to pick her up, she realized that in her hurry to leave, she had forgotten her phone. So she had to take a taxi which wasn’t easy to hail.

In the end, she arrived 45 minutes late for the most important meeting of her career and if that wasn’t enough, she ruined the entire presentation.

Of course, Uther couldn’t let it slide and he reprimanded her for it. The entire lecture lasted longer than the meeting itself. In addition, by the time Uther ordered her out of his sight and his company-he didn’t fire her, he just ordered to go home- all she wanted to do was to get drunk. Or put some food in her belly then she could get drunk until she stopped feeling sorry for herself.

And after what had happened in the morning, Morgana thought that there was no chance for it to get any worse.

Boy, she was wrong.

…

She had just left Uther’s office, the corner of her eyes were welled with tears but she knew that she couldn’t afford to cry.

She was trying to prove herself to her father. If she was going to start crying her eyes out after her first slip up, well, that certainly was not a quality that could be attributed to a leader.

Still, she was angry…no fuming. Yes, she had made a mistake, but he didn’t have to treat her like that. Thus, she mustered enough strength to hold the tears back and marched, head held high back to her office.

“Excuse me?” She heard someone say from behind her. Morgana turned around to find herself face to face with a man she had never seen before.

Had she not been busy being angry with both herself and Uther, Morgana might have noticed how handsome he was, but the man’s lips started to move and what he said, made her snap.

“Where’s the office of Arthur Pendragon?”

What did he think she was? A bloody secretary.

Clenching her jaw, she pointed toward a corridor behind them. “Walk straight down there and then turn left. Find the office with a sign ‘the son of the jerk: the jerk’. Go inside and that’s where you’ll find him.” She said icily.

“The jerk?” the raven-haired man asked with a sly grin.

Since she was not in a good mood, Morgana ignored him and resumed her retreat. Once she was in her office, she gathered her things, shoved them into her purse, and just before she left, she asked for George- the company driver- to wait for her so he could take her back to her flat.

Morgana stood before the lift, waiting for it to arrive. Seconds later, the man from before came to stop beside her.

“Hey, again.” He said, clearly amused.

Heaving a sigh, Morgana didn’t acknowledge him. When the doors opened, he let her step inside first. She pressed the lobby button, and then she rested her back against the metal wall, leaning her head back.

The journey down began smoothly.

Morgana closed her eyes.

Minutes later, the elevator jerked unnaturally then it stopped.

“This can’t be good.” The man next to her muttered which prompted her to open her eyes. The lights were off. She quickly checked the digital indicator. It said 5. So, they had stopped at the fifth floor.

The man pressed the button to the lobby repeatedly. But the lift didn’t budge. He then inhaled, turned to look at her, the corners of his lips quirked upward, “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…”

She had feeling what the problem was, but amidst all that had happened earlier that day; her luck couldn’t be that bad that she’d be stuck in such situation.

Because what were the odds, right?

Grunting in frustration, Morgana slid down. Accepting that she’d be there for a while, she wrapped her arms her knees and rested her head on them. At least, she’d be able to get some sleep.

“Are you okay?”

She looked up, half-tempted to taunt him for the stupid question. However, Morgana saw a serious look on his face and she knew that he was actually worried, “I’m fine. I’m just having the worst day ever.”

Smiling warmly at her, the cheeky man, gestured to the empty space next to her, “Can I sit?”

“Sure.”

He shrugged off his back-bag and swiftly sat next to her. He made sure to leave enough space between them. “It could be a lot worse…”

Morgana watched, finally taking a good look at him for the first time. She’d been so distracted with starting at him that she assumed that she must have missed the first part of his statement. “Sorry?”

“Your day? It could have been a lot worse.” He explained, he mirrored her posture with the knees brought to the chest and all. “I mean what if the lift broke down and you were pregnant and in labour? Or what if you got stuck with a murderer?”

The first hypothesis was plain silly because why would she be in the office if she were so close to giving birth. The second one however, was a possibility. Morgana didn’t know why but she had to be sure that the chances of her getting killed that very day were slim. “Are you a murderer?”

His face broke into a giant grin. His blue eyes displayed mirth at her question. “Don’t worry, you’re safe. I’m a doctor. I don’t take lives; I do the opposite of that.”

“I’m relieved.” And she really was. Still, she wanted to ask him if he could prove that but she thought that, there was no reason for him to lie about that. In addition, if he were really planning to kill her, he wouldn’t do it in the lift.

With a nod, he said, “I’m glad you feel that way.”

Silence filled the small space after that. Moments passed and neither of them said anything or at least Morgana didn’t feel like starting a conversation to kill the time. Well that lasted until her stomach growled reminding her that she was about to miss another meal.

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she looked away to hide her embarrassment. She sent an unspoken prayer that he didn’t hear that.

No such luck. Morgana realized when he ask, “Hungry?”

She closed her eyes, counted to three willing the redness to diminish. “I skipped breakfast and by the looks of it, lunch is next.” She sighed, “If only I knew the day is going to be like this…”

“I have food if you want. We can share.” He said, hesitant as he reached his hand for the bag. He opened it. First, he extracted a bottle of water then he took a carton bag.

If she didn’t know any better she’d say that he was her knight in shining armour.

All of the sudden, it seemed like her luck was starting to shift, but didn’t stop her from wondering how odd it was. “Do you usually go around carrying food in your bag or it is just a simply coincidence?”

He didn’t seem to notice her scepticism. “I was on my way home when my uncle Gaius…I don’t know if you know him he works….”

Of course, she knew the man. She’d known him ever since she was a little girl. He was her parents’ lawyer after all as well as Uther’s. “I do…I do know him.”

He carried on after, “He called me and asked me to come over.”

“So, you don’t work here?”

“I’m a doctor remember?” he reminded her, “I’ve moved to London recently and I’ve been living with my uncle. I think he got bored of me, because when I got here he said that he had found me a potential flatmate.” He shrugged before adding, “I’m guessing you work here.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“A bit, yeah.” He paused, hands still grasping the carton bag. “I really don’t mind sharing.”

Morgana thought of it for a moment. Any other day, she’d formulated a polite decline but she was very hungry. “If there’s enough for the both of us.”

The man seemed pleased with her answer. “There is.”

“You have two?” she raised an eyebrow when he pulled two sandwiches and handed one to her.

“I’m a big boy,” He said casually, still there was a hint of amusement in his tone.

“I’ve noticed.”

Her statement took him completely by surprise. It was obvious in the way his eyes widened slightly. Still, he recovered quickly. “I’m Merlin, by the way.” He outreached his free hand.

She took his hand and shook it. “Morgana.”

“So, aside from our predicament, why do you think you’re having the worst day ever?”

She summarized what had occurred to her earlier that day.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll live.” She said with a shrug.

Silence was back. But at least this time, it wasn’t as awkward as is it was the first time. Each of them was busy biting and chewing on their food.

While she had no idea what was going on Merlin’s mind, hers was churning. She had to figure out a way to solve the problem that she had created, preferably before Uther took an action.

Suddenly, next to her, Merlin began to cough. Her head shut his direction, only to find him red-faced. His sandwich set aside as he reached for the water bottle.

Despite her slight concern, she didn’t say anything. Morgana waited until he regained his breathing and the coughing ceased. She took a bite from her sandwich. “As a doctor, you should already know that you’re not supposed to swallow before chewing.”

He rolled his eyes, “Thanks for the advice.”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled sweetly, she still had food in her mouth. “A doctor told it to me.”

“Did this good doctor tell not to talk while chewing too?” Merlin countered, and Morgana couldn’t help but smile wider.

“How long do you think we’d stay here?” she deflected easily. The small banter clearly ended.

He was serious as he replied, “It depends, really. Maybe…” He checked his watch. “An hour or less.”

Morgana fought the urge to groan. She had to endure another hour of this torture.

“We can try and talk…” he started and then trailed off, as though he wasn’t expecting the words to leave his mouth. “…to pass the time.”

Regardless, Morgana would welcome anything that might help get her mind off her entire day. “Alright, and we can pretend that this…” She leaned forward and took the water from him, “…is vodka.”

He seemed to like her idea. “I’ll go first.” He took a small slip. He squinted acting as if the liquid actually burned. “Family? Love life? Or hobbies? What should we talk about first?”

“Love life?” Morgana let out a small bitter laugh as she shook her head. Taking a sip from her 'vodka’, she continued, “Sadly, I don’t have one.”

Merlin tilted his head with a look of doubt on his face. “I find that hard to believe.”

He was practically calling her a liar. “And why is that?”

His response was immediate and…obvious. “You’re hot. I can’t imagine it’s difficult for you to find someone.”

“Not everything is about beauty. Perhaps, I have an awful personality.” She supplied with a shrug and handed him the bottle of water.

He didn’t drink, just eyed her cautiously for a moment. “Maybe.” He ended up saying. “But I don’t think that’s true. After our brief encounter earlier, I can vouch that you have quite the charming personality.”

Morgana ignored the lopsided smile he sent her and she decided to be honest with him. “My last relationship was a….” God, she couldn’t even find the right word to describe it. “… An enormous mistake. I had to take a break. Just be single and enjoy life without all the drama that comes with having a boyfriend.” Even though she had barely opened up about what had really happened with Alvarr, thinking about it was enough to spur a surge of both pain and anger through her. Now, she really wished that there were actually alcohol in that bottle instead of water. Morgana took a bit from her sandwich and pushed all her thoughts about Alvarr to the back of her mind; where they had been for the past year. It still hurt. The pain was still there but it was subsiding.

Their eyes locked gaze and she instantly noticed the way he was looking at her. It made her wonder if her face had betrayed some of the pain, she was feeling inside. “What about you?” she asked, deflecting.

“I’m currently single too.” At that, Morgana raised an eyebrow. She didn’t say anything as she let him carry on. “So I guess you and I have something in common.”

“I’m sure you weren’t always single.”

He laughed and placed the bottle beside him, “No, I wasn’t. My ex-girlfriend and I broke up almost five months ago.” There was a small pause, he seemed as if he was recalling a certain event. “It was for the best.”

Morgana wasn’t the kind of person that got excited by other’s people drama, but at that moment, she’d take anything that might help her forget about her day and her ex. “Why?”

Merlin apparently had no problem sharing, because he leaned his head against the metal wall and a look akin to grief washed over his face. “I thought she was the one, Freya, I mean. But in the end, I guess I was wrong, we were different, so much different. She was not the woman I thought I’d share the rest of my life with.”

Even though, he had barely shared any details with her, what he said was enough to tag at her heartstrings. “You loved her?”

His expression changed quickly as he straightened his back. Merlin started to laugh.

Morgana frowned; she almost regretted asking that question. However, he was quick to compose himself and apologize for his sudden outburst. “Believe it or not, our first date was a complete disaster. But being a romantic man, I thought perhaps, it’d be quite the story to tell the children and grandchildren. So I called her for a second date….God, I wish I never have.”

Dreaming about kids when it was only the first date was creepy and she almost told him so. However, she kept her mouth shut, he didn’t look like a loony to her but one might never know. Merlin went quiet after that.

Not wanting the small space to drown in silence again, Morgana brought up another subject. “So you said that you’ve moved here recently with your uncle, where are you from?”

“A village called Ealdor in southwest of Wales. It’s a small village; I doubt you’ve heard of it. ”

She never have, so she shook her head. “Any family you left there?”

“Just my mother,” Merlin replied. “She is the only one I have left besides Gaius. You?”

“I’ve always lived here,” that was lie, but it wasn’t as if he needed to know that part of her past and she didn’t want to mention it to him. “I have a half-brother, half-sister and a nephew.” Morgana deliberately failed to tell him about Uther. The latter had barely been a father to her.

Amused, he asked, “half-brother and half-sister?”

She shrugged, “My father and I my mother cheated on their spouses and I was the result of that affair.”

“Well, I’m the result of a one night stand.” He simply said.

Why did he say that? Morgana had no idea. Perhaps, he was trying to make her feel better, which made her wonder if there had been something in the way she had spoken that made him do that.

Did her origin really affect her to that extent? She thought that she had made peace with it. Accepted it even. Maybe, she was wrong.

“You said you had a nephew?” Merlin asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Yes…yeah,” She stammered, trying to clear her mind. She noticed that he hadn’t touch his sandwich again, so she set hers aside too. “His name is Mordred. He’s three.”

Merlin either ignored her distress or he didn’t even notice it, “You see him much?”

“Not as much I want to,” She told him. She loved Mordred so much. To be completely honest with herself, some of the best memories she had were with him. “Morgause, my sister, she let me babysit for her every now and then and I try my best to give them a visit in the weekends.” Maybe once she was out of here, she’d call her sister and ask her to bring Mordred over. He’d do a fantastic job at lightening up her mood.

“Lucky you,” Merlin said.

Morgana found herself agreeing. Yes, she was lucky indeed. She smiled to herself; she’d be definitely calling her sister after everything was over. “I really am.”

“Does your family have a thing for names that start with an ’M’?”

Her brow furrowed in confusion, “What do you mean?”

“You know, like the American series charmed where all the females from the Halliwell family have names that start with a 'P’.”

What he said served only to confuse her further and it must have been written all over her face because, his eyebrows shut up, almost touching his hairline. “Please tell you know about charmed?” she shook her head and he looked disappointed, “it’s about magic and…I cannot believe you’ve never heard of it.”

“The Americans produce a lot of series, it’s impossible to keep track of them all,” she reasoned, but something was still bugging her. “Why did you bring that up in the first place?”

“Well, your name as well as your sister’s and nephew’s start with an ’m’, I thought that maybe is a family tradition or something of the sort.”

Her frown lessened with his explanation. “No, it’s not.”

“It would have been cool if it was.”

She snorted, “No, it wouldn’t. It’d be ridiculous.”

“Oh, come on,” It sounded like a whine coming out of his mouth. He crossed his legs and leaned on his knees as it to get closer to her. His eyes bright with excitement. “Try to imagine it.”

Morgana stared at him.

“So?”

She was at a loss for words, what could she possibly tell him.

“Are you imaging it?”

“Yep,” she lied with a smile. “It’s still ridiculous.”

Huffing, he shut her a look, “You’re no fun.”

In spite of herself, her smile became a grin. “How can that be fun?”

“I don’t know,” Merlin threw his hands in the air in mild exasperation, “we tried talking about our love lives and that was a big mistake. Then it was our families and…well another mistake. Let us try something else, something that is not dark, gloomy or painful.”

She hated to admit it but he had a point. But what he was suggesting was silly. “What do you want to do exactly?”

“Since our names start with the same letter, why not imagine that we’re having a baby….” His eyes widened as if he’d been stack with an idea, his lips twitched upward, “wait…what if you’re pregnant and we got stuck in the lift so we have nothing better to do than to discuss baby names?”

Maybe he was indeed crazy. “So I’m pregnant and you’re my husband?”

He nodded his head.

“In this imaginary world, you’re a gynaecologist.”

“Why?” he exclaimed, almost offended. “That’s ridiculous. I’m a surgeon.”

At last, he was starting to see the ridiculousness of his idea. “You made me pregnant and I’m making you a gynaecologist. And the only reason we’ve never thought about names for our unborn child is because you’re too busy staring at other women’s vagina to stare at…” suddenly, she trailed off, noting the smug look he was sending her and that was when she realized what she was about to say.

“Yours?”

Heat rushed to cheeks and she had no idea how to hide it. She murmured a yes.

His smile was intact, “Do you have any suggestions?”

She was going to say something but instead she asked, “First, what are we having; a boy or a girl?”

Merlin scratched his chin, thinking. It lasted less than a minute, “We don’t know. We want to be surprised.”

“Fine,” Morgana muttered, “Maxwell for a boy and Margret if it’s a girl.”

He shook his head, “I don’t like them.”

She rolled her eyes, “You have better names?”

“If it’s a boy then Milo….”

She didn’t let him finish, “Nope, I don’t like it.”

It was his turn to roll his eyes at her childish behaviour. “No wonder I spend so much time with other women, you’re impossible.”

Smiling sweetly at him, Morgana patted her imaginary stomach. “Yet, you still love me, right?”

“What can I do?” Merlin huffed and puffed, feigning annoyance, “Love is blind.”

“How romantic of you, my dear,” she reached and squeezed his knee. “I knew I married you for a reason.”

Merlin placed his hand on top of hers, “My charming personality?”

She couldn’t help it, it was something that she had noticed and didn’t want to point it out. “Your weird ears.”

At that, he burst into laughter. Merlin covered his ears. “Oh, god! I thought they were covered by my hair.”

Morgana laughed with him. “I hope the baby doesn’t inherit them.”

“They happen to be quite lovely,” he defended. “They are biteable and sweet to suck on them.”

She laughed harder until there were tears in her eyes, her sides ached and the pout he was giving wasn’t helping either.

“I can’t believe you’re humiliating me in front our unborn child.” Merlin murmured sadly, sighing forlornly.

Beginning to calm down, Morgana wiped the tears in her eyes. “I’m sure it won’t remember what’s just happened.”

“I hope so.”

“We still haven’t decided on the names,” she reminded him.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You didn’t even let me finish.”

“Sorry, please try again.”

There were many arguments. Regardless, they managed to agree on two names, Matthew and Molly. Then there was the subject of how many children they would have.

“Come on, Morgana. It’s just one more child, what difference does that make?”

She threw her hand in the air, “Three children are more than enough, why do we need another?”

“Because I want one more.”

“Then you carry it.”

He rolled his eyes, “I lack the proper organs.”

“Well too bad. Because I’m only going to through labour three times and that is it.”

“Fine,” he growled, and slid back down. Morgana followed. “We can compromise.”

She leaned her head against the metal wall and closed her eyes, arguing with him was hard. “No, my decision is final.”

“Hear me out, what if we have two kids but you get pregnant for the third time and later we find ot that we’re having twins.”

Before she could say anything, the lift jerked. It started to descend just as it should have done two hours ago.

Her gaze darted to him, a part of her was sad that this was over. Merlin was smiling but it looked strained. “We’ve been rescued.” He tried to joke.

“Yeah,” she said and began to collect her things before standing up. Merlin did the same.

They both looked at the digital indicator as they stood next to each other. It said three.

Three more floors and each one would be on their separate way.

Morgana prayed that he’d say something. Maybe ask her for her phone number or anything.

They reached the second floor and Morgana sighed, looking down at her shoes so she wouldn’t look his way.

One more floor as the two became one. She decided to take matters into her own hands. “On scale one to your date with your ex, how bad was this one?”

Beside her, Merlin turned his head, “This was a date?”

She shrugged one shoulder, feeling her heart throbbing loudly inside her chest. She couldn’t believe what she was doing. “We had food and wine.”

He nodded his head and swallowed. “What do you say I take you to a proper dinner?”

“Tonight?” she hopped she didn’t sound desperate.

“Eight?” he asked and she nodded.

They both smiled just as there was a sound of 'ding’ then the lift’s doors opened.

They were greeted by sight of Arthur at the other side. The blond man appeared to be surprised. Either because he didn’t expect them to be stuck together or because they were beaming like idiots at each other. “Are two all right?”

“Never better,” Merlin said cheerfully. He was the first one out of the lift.

“I second that.” She followed.

Arthur sent them a confused look before he turned to Merlin. “When will you come over?”

It was Morgana’s turn to display confusion at Arthur’s words. “Come over where?”

“To see the flat.” Came Arthur’s reply that offered no explanation to her.

Therefore, she directed her attention to Merlin. “What is he talking about?”

“Well, he is the potential flatmate I told you about.”


End file.
